Singapore to cut time to set up bank accounts for family offices, ultra-wealthy

By Xinghui Kok

SINGAPORE, July 9 (Reuters) - Singapore is shortening the time it takes for wealthy clients to open private bank accounts and get tax incentives for their family offices, a minister said on Wednesday.

The moves are designed to keep Singapore attractive as a hub for the finances of the wealthy even as it tightens regulations following a S$3 billion ($2.34 billion) money laundering scandal in 2023.

National Development Minister Chee Hong Tat, who is also the deputy chairman of the country's central bank, said it used to take as long as a year for family offices to get tax incentives, but that the Monetary Authority of Singapore had worked with financial institutions to bring it down to within three months for most applications.

Chee said MAS was also working with private banking firms to reduce the time taken for clients to open accounts.

"We want to work closely with the industry to see how we can go further, uphold high standards, so that we remain a trusted financial centre, and at the same time make sure that our processes are efficient," said Chee.

Singapore has tightened scrutiny of the financial sector following 2023's money laundering scandal, the largest ever in the city-state, with lenders spending more time on due diligence checks and even closing the accounts of some clients.

On Friday, MAS said it imposed penalties in relation to the case on nine financial institutions, including Citibank C.N, Julius Baer BAER.S and UBS UBSG.S, totalling S$27.45 million.

Chee said in January that the number of family offices, one-stop firms that manage the money of the very wealthy, grew to 2,000 last year, up from the 1,650 figure Chee shared last September.

MAS said last July that six single family offices had their tax incentives revoked because of links to the money laundering case.

Chee said MAS will provide greater clarity to the wealth industry on its expectations of banks and relationship managers, and on checks the industry needs to perform.

"So that (the expectations) are clearer and that we can avoid second-guessing and taking longer than necessary to help clients to open accounts," he said.

($1 = 1.2808 Singapore dollars)